A Universal God with No Favourites

29^TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME (Year A)

By John Abraham Ayieko

Two features easily set apart those whose friendship with God has matured considerably; one, the simplicity of their spiritual life; and two, a firm conviction that God can never be put in a box. We can never fully know, let alone understand, God’s ways. It is not for us to try to peer into God’s mind in a futile attempt to seek to have some idea what he could be up to in the light of any human reality. Herein lies the folly of trying to set a date for the end of the world or even attempting to explain away all forms of calamities in terms of God’s perceived anger or other things like that.

Ours is a universal God, creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. All creation is subject to him. All creatures fix their gaze on him for sustenance – their knowledge of him notwithstanding.

Prophet Isaiah in the first reading echoes Yahweh’s divine freedom in which he uses a very unlikely fellow to carry out his will, Cyrus King of Persia (559-529 BC). He anoints him, for the sake of Israel his chosen one (Is 45:4) to play a key role in the economy of salvation. But King Cyrus has no inkling he is playing a crucial role in the history of salvation. He does not even know God! (V 4, 5). He conquers Babylon and liberates the Jews, allowing them to return to their native land – and even to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple! For Israel, this was a re-union with God; a God they had rejected in the last three Sundays, and who as a result had subjected them to a period of chastisement in the hands of oppressors.

For Israel, Jerusalem plus the Temple was equal to God; and Jerusalem plus the Temple plus the Community was equal to Salvation. If you are already asking whether it is possible that an atheist can lead believers back to their God, the answer is yes! Our God has no favorites! Prophet Jonah and Peter the apostle had a close and personal experience of this.

Jesus, being well versed in the Hebrew scripture knew full well that both King Cyrus and Ceaser belong to God! If Israel enjoyed ultimate freedom through the intervention of a secular King, then she must respect the secular institution as God’s will. The fact that the Jews hate Ceaser and his image is therefore irrelevant. ‘…pay to Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser and to God what belongs to God’ (V 22).

Paying what is due to Ceaser is one of the pointers to the need to foster a cordial relationship between the Church and the State. St. Peter in his first epistle to the church does not mince his words on this; “ Be subject to every human institution FOR THE LORD’S SAKE, whether it be by the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him…”( I Peter 2:13).

How then shall we respond to these realities?

An inscription at the Holy Family Minor Basilica (Nairobi) refers to Jesus as the Lord of History, a statement attributed to Blessed Pope John Paul II during one of his visits to Kenya.

JESUS is not only the Lord of World History. He is also the Lord of our various individual histories. He wishes to be the Lord of the small steps we take in this life as well as the Lord of the major events that define our being. He wishes to rejoice with us as we put on our very first pair of shoes in the kindergarten, and as we smile in our PhD graduation gowns! If he has the patience to number the hair on our heads, then he will more readily accompany even the most mundane details of our daily living, even those we might not think have any significance in our spiritual life.

This was Israel’s experience under King Cyrus. This is the experience of every Christian who truly surrenders to our universal God who is praised and worshiped by all his works (Daniel 3:57). This is the veiled message of Christ to the Jews who wished to be freed from their civil duty of paying taxes. It is not for us to tell what or who is holy. It is enough to have a pure intention and goodwill. For if we fail to praise God, Stones will!

LET US PRAY FOR THE SPIRITUAL WISDOM TO SEE GOD IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND IN EVERYONE WE MEET, AND TO READILY FEEL HIS COMPANY IN EVERYTHING WE DO. LET US ALSO THANK HIM FOR THE HISTORY WE SHARE, HAVING PASSED THROUGH ST.JOHN’S MINOR SEMINARY RAKWARO. THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR THIS SHARED PAST. AND WE WILL ONLY SEE IT CLEARLY IN TIME WHEN WE FOSTER OUR TOGETHERNESS AND REMAIN AS ONE. THIS IS THE TRICK ST PAUL GIVES THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA.